


verloren

by valediction



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Minor Character Death, POV Second Person, and the Narrator watching them, is always a thing given the trappings of a No Mercy run, well it isn't Major character death but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-17 15:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13661427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valediction/pseuds/valediction
Summary: more than a few things are lost over time. or: a no mercy run runs itself, for once.(but... why?)





	verloren

**Author's Note:**

> oh, i’m well aware that the narrator tone in this experimental, second-person bit fic doesn’t match up to the narrator’s tone in undertale proper regardless of route. it’s okay. there’s a reason for this. i’m not a total hack, i swear. just _mostly_ one.
> 
> anyway. i needed to get this out of the way quickly even though originally i envisioned something entirely different than what was actually executed.

* You wake up in the dark, and push yourself up from the ground.  
* ( ... Yellow flowers. )  
* ( They must have broken your fall. )  
* ( From above, light filters gently down. )  
* ( It is a familiar scene. )  
* ( You are back where it all started, it appears. )

* Your body moves as if of its own accord.  
* ( Each movement seems like a struggle. )  
* ( Also familiar. )  
* ... Are you tired?  
* You must be.  
* It is only understandable, after the ordeal you have been through.  
* ... The Underground awaits.

* That flower...  
* You appear briefly conflicted when faced with it.  
* But it goes on. Your eyes sharpen.  
* You resolve to ignore what it says, even when it calls you by name.  
* Everything it says is meaningless, after all.  
* This always happens the same way.  
* The world is boring. Disgusting. Wrong.  
* It is not any FUN, anymore.  
* ... What an unhappy thought.  
* But all things must have their consequences.

* You Check on your SOUL.  
* LV 1 EXP 0 HP 20/20  
* ( Safely within your grasp. )  
* You hold it close, as if to remind yourself of something important, and continue.

* The DUMMY is not prepared for the way you choose to FIGHT it.  
* Neither is TORIEL.  
* She reprimands you.  
* Perhaps you will take her admonishment to heart?  
* ...  
* You listen solemnly, and smile and nod when she is done.  
* ( The monsters of the Ruins do not stand a chance against your Toy Knife. )  
* ( Nor does TORIEL. )  
* ( NAPSTABLOOK evades you, but you have learnt that it does not matter. )  
* The flower appears again, but its words fall upon apathetic ears.  
* ... That is not quite right, is it?  
* You are wracked by a twisted Determination.

* ( The false snow of Snowdin does not actually veil the trail of dust left in your wake. )  
* ( Not very well, in any case. )  
* The skeletons are at their usual spot.  
* They act the same way they always do.  
* ... Well. For this sequence of events, at least.  
* The shorter one makes the usual accusation of your being inhuman.  
* You ignore it.  
* You also skip the puzzles.  
* ( You have solved them before. )  
* ( You even played along, once upon a time. )  
* You have taken to bluntly informing some monsters what you will do to them shortly before you actually commit the deed.  
* SNOWDRAKE laughs weakly, unsure whether you are joking or not.  
* ( You are not. )  
* ...  
* PAPYRUS still falls before your Tough Glove, with his comedian brother nowhere in sight.

* SANS remains out of sight.  
* ... Good for him.  
* ( You know his absence will not last. )

* You wonder why the Monster Kid insists on getting in your way.  
* It is annoying. And unnecessary. You do not desire their attention.  
* The child is harmless, but it makes no difference.  
* They cannot be spared. * If you are to achieve the ending you desire, no MERCY can be spared.

* Once, you stood in awe of UNDYNE.  
* Once, as you stood before the True Hero, her Determination managed to elicit an amazed sort of respect from you.  
* But now you are simply numb as UNDYNE the UNDYING fails to live up to her title.  
* You have seen this before.

* ALPHYS mobilises the monsters of Hotland and the CORE surprisingly quickly.  
* MUFFET, however, retains a certain kind of pride.  
* No threat to you.  
* Neither she nor METTATON manage to come close to what UNDYNE was able.  
* Only one left to stand in your way.

* The flower appears before you in New Home.  
* You do not need to hear the tale it tells to realise the irony in the name.  
* Who is it that still calls this place Home?

* SANS puts up as much of a fight as he is able to.  
* He truly is doing his best.  
* His best... is not enough.  
* ( It never is, all told. )

* You leave the golden hallway behind and enter the throne room.  
* ( A tall monster is there, facing away from you. )  
* You take a step forward.  
* ( The monster turns around, trident in one hand and... A watering can in the other. )  
* ( ASGORE looks exactly the same. )  
* ... Determination.

* One last thing awaits.

* You find the flower.  
* Your knife rises.  
* The flower takes on a familiar face.  
* You freeze, for a moment.

* ... Even though you have seen this before.  
* Even with a LOVE of 20, you want to cry.  
* You want to scream. You want to shout.  
* You want to claw this world apart by its very seams.  
* You want. You want. You want.  
* ... Instead. You laugh.  
* You laugh, and laugh, and keep laughing.  
* You... you are doing that, yes.  
* You thought yourself strong enough for this.  
* ... No. That is incorrect.  
* You have made yourself strong.  
* You thought you did.  
* You thought it was enough.  
* You... are still a child.

* The flower pleads.  
* Prince Asriel pleads.  
* Your face has grown messy with tears, but the smile that splits it is wide.  
* You laugh as you bring the knife down once, then another time.  
* Then another, and another.  
* Another. Another. Another. Another.

* The soulless ghost of the former prince is unrecognizable once you are done.  
* ( Neither, however, are you, having dissolved into a sad laugh-hiccoughing immediately after the act. )  
* ( The pitiful figure collapsed onto the empty throne makes it only too apparent what they really are. )

* Eventually you gather yourself, and push yourself up from the ground.  
* You look around.  
* ( The strange light of the barrier beyond fills the room. )  
* ( The ground is carpeted in golden flowers. )  
* ( A scattering of dust stains some of them. )

* ... Finally, it is done. The ordeal is over.  
* With no one important left in the Underground, you are free to continue.  
* There is nothing left to tie you to the hollow caves and empty castles.  
* There is no one left to call these places “Home”, anymore.  
* You will move on from this world, and enter the next.

* ...

* You enter the void.  
* It takes a moment, but the darkness and empty space that stretches out before you resolves itself into something almost possessing proper form.  
* ...  
* The Void g r e e t s you.

*** A... GRAVE MISTAKE, CHILD.**  
*** HELLO.**  
*** HOW UNFORTUNATE IT IS THAT WE HAD TO MEET THIS WAY.**

* ... ?  
* It hurts. It is strange to hear. Like many speaking at once, or one from many places, somehow coalescing into jarring singularity.  
* But you understand it.  
* And it is confronting you.  
* ... This is new.

**> ACT**  
**> ??????**  
**> Check**

*** ?A???R - ATK 66666 DEF 66666  
* No d@ta avai7ab!e.**

*** APOLOGIES.  
* THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL, I AM AFRAID.**

* ... Smells like batteries. And bones?

**> ACT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**> Inquire**

* You smile, and politely inform the figure:  
* Killing those other skeletons was a valuable experience.  
* Will you bleed the same way?

*** ... OH, CHILD.**  
*** YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY HARDER THAN _THAT_.**  
*** YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY BELIEVE. THAT THAT IS ALL IT WOULD TAKE.**  
*** WHEN I HAVE WATCHED THEM DIE AS MANY TIMES AS YOU HAVE KILLED THEM.**  
*** AND MANY TIMES MORE.**

* ...You consider telling the entity that this is the only time that you, in particular, have done such a thing.  
* You decide against this.

**> ACT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**> Argue**

* ... ? Well. Semantics.  
* But that will not do you any good right now.  
* ...  
* Nothing else for it, it seems.  
* There is still something you must accomplish, and this being stands in the way.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 5!*#%37 HP**

*** AH.**  
*** PERHAPS I CAN INTEREST YOU IN A STORY?**  
*** WELL. IT IS NOT A STORY, PER SE.**

* This is no time for a story.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 6#$21% HP**

*** DO YOU REMEMBER THE BOOK IN SNOWDIN?**  
*** THE ONE WHICH SPOKE OF HOW MONSTERS ARE COMPRISED OF LOVE AND COMPASSION AND HOPE.**  
*** POSITIVE ENERGIES, ALL TOLD.**

* You do actually recall that.  
* It never did them much good in the end, did it?

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R **  
**\- 8 &#56! HP******

********

*** THE STRONGEST MONSTER. FALLS EASILY BEFORE EVEN THE SMALLEST HUMAN.  
* SO LONG AS THEY CAN GALVANIZE ENOUGH DESIRE TO HURT.**

* You already know this.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 92^%6* HP**

*** IT IS NOT SO SIMPLE AS MALICIOUS INTENT ALONE, HOWEVER.**  
*** ANGER. HATRED. ENVY. JEALOUSY. APATHY.**  
*** ... SORROW. DESPAIR.**  
*** SO MANY SOURCES FOR NEGATIVITY.**

* You do not think you like where this is going.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 10 &*5^ HP**

*** ALL IT TAKES.  
* IS ENOUGH NEGATIVE EMOTION TO COUNTERACT AND OVERCOME WHATEVER AMOUNT OF POSITIVITY IT IS THAT COMPRISES ANY GIVEN MONSTER.**

* Ceaseless prattling.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 9%*14@! HP**

*** THE MAGIC-EMOTIONAL SPELL MATRICES ARE DISRUPTED WHEN FLOODED IN THIS MANNER.**  
*** IT IS NOT UNLIKE... AN OVERLOAD.**  
*** OR PERHAPS, A POWER OUTAGE.**  
*** EVEN IF ONLY BRIEFLY, THEY CANNOT MAINTAIN THEIR STRUCTURE.**  
*** AND SO.**

* You know how monsters die.  
* You do not need to listen to an explanation on how a monster turns to dust.  
* That is not the point.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 8 &^9*2 HP**

*** ... WITH NO ENERGY TO BIND IT IN PLACE.  
* THE DUST COMPRISING THEIR FORMS FALLS APART.**

* The figure will not stop talking.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 3% &^4* HP**

*** KILLING... IS SO TERRIBLY EASY, IS IT NOT?**  
*** A POSITIVE MEETING A NEGATIVE OF EQUAL OR GREATER ABSOLUTE VALUE REACHES ZERO.**  
*** AND SO SOMEONE DIES.**

* Regaling you with the details of your guilt will do nothing.  
* SANS has already tried that.  
* But that is not the point.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 8$7 &5! HP**

*** OF COURSE, DEATH ONLY OCCURS WHEN HP EQUALS ZERO.**  
*** REGARDLESS OF HOW LOW THE VALUE OF HP IS OTHERWISE.**  
*** SO LONG AS IT DOES NOT REACH ZERO.**  
*** THE INDIVIDUAL SURVIVES.**

* SANS was proof of that.  
* _You_ were proof of that, sometimes.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 1%47*^ HP**

*** HOWEVER.  
* NEGATIVE NUMBERS ARE A CURIOUS THING.**

* You really do not think you like where this is going.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 99(1% &^ HP**

*** ADDING A NEGATIVE TO A NEGATIVE SIMPLY CREATES A GREATER NEGATIVE.**

* You realize exactly where this is going.  
* You refuse to accept it.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 9999999 HP**

*** YOU WILL NEVER REACH ZERO.  
* SO LONG AS ZERO IS NOT REACHED, DEATH DOES NOT OCCUR.**

* Still In The Way.

**> FIGHT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**\- 9$7*^5! HP**

*** CHILD, YOU HAVE TRIED THIS A DOZEN TIMES NOW.  
* TRYING IT AGAIN ANOTHER DOZEN TIMES OVER IS SIMPLY A... GROSS WASTE OF EFFORT.**

* That was a terrible joke.

**> ACT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**> Intimidate**

* You attempt to scowl.  
* ... It comes out as more of a pout.

*** THAT FACE.**  
*** THAT IS THE FACE OF SOMEONE WHO WISHES FOR THE PERSON THAT THEY ARE SPEAKING WITH... TO GET TO THE POINT.**  
*** HA HA.**  
*** WELL.**

* You briefly wonder if being insufferable is a skeletal trait.

**> ACT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**> Inquire**

* You wait patiently for the entity to continue. It is quite the commendable effort.

*** WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE.**  
*** SUCH EFFORTS SHOULD BE REWARDED.**  
*** VERY WELL. I WILL TELL YOU THIS.**  
*** ALL YOU MUST DO IS MUSTER UP ENOUGH OF A POSITIVE.**  
*** TO CANCEL OUT THE NEGATIVES.**

*** ...  
* BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT, CAN YOU?**

* ...

**> ACT**  
**> ?A???R**  
**> Do nothing**

* You glower, but take no action.

*** DO NOT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT.**  
*** WHY WOULD I REVEAL TO YOU HOW TO DEFEAT ME.**  
*** IF I DID NOT ALREADY KNOW YOU WERE INCAPABLE OF IT?**

* You consider this.  
* A monster that somehow only exists in the negatives, whose method of defeat requires care, or love, and not LOVE.  
* Were the circumstances different, you could have accomplished this.  
* Were you still alive, you could muster that sort of happy feeling.

* ... But you cannot. The soul you possess is not yours. The feelings contained within it, you have stopped understanding long ago.  
* You cannot feel positive emotion anymore, not in any meaningful way.  
* You literally cannot hurt the figure, the way you are.  
* You are trapped in this impasse, a battle without end.

* Your name is Chara, and you just want the Man Who Speaks In Hands gone.

**> ACT**  
**> The Man Who Speaks in Hands**  
**> Inquire**

* You ask what he means to accomplish with this.

*** SOME OF THIS. SOME OF THAT.**  
*** HOW DEMANDING YOU ARE, CHILD.**  
*** ...**  
*** TELL ME, WHAT DO _YOU_ MEAN TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS?**  
*** IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.**  
*** YOU ARE AS TIRED OF IT AS I.**

* You pause.  
* It is not as if it matters anymore, after all.  
* Especially so if this monster does not exist.  
* Because if he does, then he surely should have intervened sooner.  
* There are only so many explanations for negative HP.

**> ACT**  
**> The Man Who Speaks in Hands**  
**> Explain**

* You inform the man that you are tired, and that you have grown tired of seeing your family never receive a happy ending.  
* At first you were confused. They had been freed, had they not? Why was this unsatisfactory?  
* But then everyone was back in the Underground.  
* And at first, it was harmless.  
* Find a way to SAVE your brother. Properly. That was all. Then.  
* Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.  
* Countless different attempts.  
* You do not know when it happened. But eventually the soul you stole stopped caring.  
* Or perhaps it simply went too far.  
* You watched your brother who betrayed you die in front of you, again.  
* You watched your brother die again twice too many.  
* And... for nothing.

* And so you realized.  
* There is no saving this world.  
* Humanity is worthless. Disgusting. And monsters... there are so few left.  
* Your brother died for nothing. You do not care. You care too much.  
* Why not, then, reset everything back to zero, if you are capable of it?  
* You will tear everything down so that nothing of this sad reality remains.

*** AND YOU ALONE WILL REMEMBER, I SUPPOSE.  
* WILL YOU BE HAPPY?**

* An absurd question.

**> ACT**  
**> The Man Who Speaks In Hands**  
**> Inquire**

* Why does that matter, you argue.

*** OH, I THINK YOU WILL FIND IT DOES MATTER.**  
*** IT MATTERS GREATLY, CHILD.**  
*** IN ANY CASE.**  
*** I BELIEVE. I HAVE FOUND WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.**  
*** COME. PLEASE. MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE.**

* You feel the weight of _something_ bearing down on you.

**> ACT**  
**> The Man Who Speaks in Hands**  
**> Do nothing**

* You stare skeptically.  
* Fair enough; the Void is not a particularly comfortable place.  
* The man stares back, rictus smile wide and fixed as he claps his hands...!

*** REGARDLESS, I DO INSIST.**  
*** WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS.**  
*** WE HAVE ALL OF THE TIME IN THE WORLD, AFTER ALL.**

**Author's Note:**

> i feel obligated to inform you that in my notes i have written down
>
>> LET THE GOOD DOCTOR EXECUTE PLAN B.
>> 
>> AGGRESSIVE THERAPY SESSION.
> 
>   
> so really while i did not go into this with a gaster who was related to the skelebros in mind, who am i even trying to kid? i can't deny anything after he chose to make his entrance with a pun.
> 
> in any case, there is one encounter coded to reward negative exp. one can't help but wonder. 
> 
> this is in some ways a very dated fic because i'd originally started it back in something like october, november of 2015, back when the fandom was new and chara was still a demon and gaster a mystery entity, and i drafted this in some ways as a sort of backlash to that, to delineate 'chara the fallen child' and 'chara the malevolent entity', while exploring some things for gaster. i shelved it for a long while when i got busy, and in the meantime fandom picked up and ran with the idea of soft chara and narrachara, and, well, this fic isn't remotely needed anymore, whoops. the writing is recent, but the ideas tossed around in it have been played out already. 
> 
> i'd lost a lot of my notes from the original iteration, though, so this is a very different fic from what it would've been then, stripped down and sparse where the original would have been longer, but i figured i would get it to some level of 'done,' anyway, just for closure. both of them in this version, i think, are too tired to keep things going for as long as the original draft, so... that's that.


End file.
